Buddhism

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Four Noble Truths

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- life is suffering (dukkha).
- the cause of suffering is desire (tanha). This desire makes us believe that there is something permanent and unchanging in life.
- there is release from suffering
- the way to find release is to follow the Eightfold Path.

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Theravada Buddhism

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Conservative Buddhism
-emphasize buddha was a man
-goal to become arhat, achieve nirvana.

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Mahayana Buddhism

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Liberal Buddhism
-Korean, Japan, China

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Vajrayana Buddhism

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Tibetan Buddhism
-belief in demons

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Gautama

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Buddha

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Nirvana

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the release from suffering and rebirth that brings inner peace

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Dharma

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“the norm, that which is true.” way of life

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Sangha

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(Sangha, literally “community”or “assembly”)

first order of monks, founded by Buddha

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Arhat

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(“perfect being”, “worthy”), a person who has reached nirvana.

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Tripitaka

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First Buddhist Scriptures. "The Three Baskets"

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Anatman

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No-self or no permanent identity

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Lotus Sutra

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The most popular Mahayana text is the “Lotus Sutra” or the “Lotus of the Good Law” (100 CE).
- It contains sayings of the Buddha.

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Bodhisattva

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“a being intended for enlightenment” or “future Buddha”

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Avalokitshvara

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The most popular bodhisattva is Avalokiteshvara (probably, “ The Lord Who Looks Down from Above”), known as Guanyin (“hears all cries”) in China, Kannon in Japan, Chenrizi in Tibet, Karunamaya in Nepal. The Lotus Sutra says that this bodhisattva will take any form that is needed to help others. In East Asia, Guanyin is represented as female, often as the giver or protector of babies. She is frequently shown seated on a lotus, holding a child. In Indian texts, he is a prince.

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Guan Yin

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The most popular bodhisattva is Avalokiteshvara (probably, “ The Lord Who Looks Down from Above”), known as Guanyin (“hears all cries”) in China

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Pure Land Schools

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- they appeal to common people
- it is possible to reach a blissful haven in the very next life
- the proximate goal is the Western Paradise of Amitabha Buddha
- in the Western paradise people will meditate and seek Nirvana, as they could not on earth, because of the degenerate age
- faith in Amitabha (and not “works”) and the devout repetition of his name are all sufficient to enter this paradise
- Pure land schools do not demand meditation, ceremony, scripture study or even literacy

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Yellow Hat school

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The reform was in part the imposition of stricter monastic discipline; no meat, less alcohol, more praying, and reintroduction of celibacy. The result was that the abbots had no sons. The theory arose that abbots of monasteries were incarnations of the bodhisattvas. After their deaths, they were reborn in another human form. The goal was to find a young child, born forty-nine days after the abbot’s death. The child had to demonstrate clear familiarity with the abbot’s belongings and had to have the magical marks of the abbot on his body. The child was then taken from his family, raised in the monastery, and installed as abbot.

The Yellow Hat school spread to Mongolia and Siberia, in Russia.

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Bardo Thodol

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The most famous Tibetan Buddhist text is Bardo Thodol (“the between state in which there is liberation through hearing”)